That Zany Zucchini!

Usually I write about very old recipes and how they've changed over the years and how we as Americans have changed  over time along with some food history.  Unfortunately, we don't have much history with the zucchini!  Surprised?  I was.  I grew up with lots of zucchini.  Especially in the summer.  What I learned is that this vegetable arrived here officially in the United States along with Italian immigrants.  It wasn't part of 'everyday' cooking until well into the 1950's and the abundance of zucchini bread recipes didn't appear until the late 60's and early 1970's when healthier bread and cake recipes were being sought out.  Zucchini may have appeared in the U.S. before the 1920's but was often referred to as 'vegetable marrow' and was not the typical dark green color that we associate with the squash today. 

I found this great information about the zucchini in America on Foodtimeline.org if you're interested in expanding your knowledge about this prolific vegetable!  And then there's this interesting tidbit in Russ Parson's book 'How to Pick a Peach',

"it may come as a surprise to learn that zucchini, which seems so ancient, is actually a relatively modern invention, probably dating back no earlier than the turn of the twentieth century.  According to squash historian* Harry Paris, the first recorded mention of zucchini came in a 1900 Italian seed catalog.  It probably didn't make its way to the United States until after World War I, brought by Italian immigrants to California."
 

*Are you thinking what I'm thinking?  I'm really glad that the job of 'squash historian' is taken!!  In the cook book I own called 'Thoughts for Buffets' from 1958 I found only 2 recipes including zucchini and the following one is an interesting choice included in a Chinese Buffet dinner.

Zucchini Cantonese

1/2 cup cooking oil
3 pounds unpeeled zucchini, sliced into 1/2 inch thick pieces
3 thinly sliced onions
1 clove garlic
1/2 cup water
3 tablespoons soy sauce

Heat the cooking oil in a skillet until hot, add the zucchini, onions, and garlic.  Cook covered until the zucchini is tender and crisp.  Discard the garlic.  Just before serving, pour 3 tablespoons of soy sauce over the zucchini.  Toss lightly.

I hope you're enjoying this summer vegetable.  If you're like me, you've been preparing it numerous ways to keep your family confused...I mean interested!  I even made zucchini fritters this past weekend.  They ended up resembling potato pancakes so I served them with sour cream - really good.  If we were dealing with all these zucchini over 100 years ago we would know how to preserve them!  Except there were no zucchini in the U.S. over 100 years ago and somehow 'vegetable marrow' doesn't sound that appetizing.  who are we kidding, it doesn't sound appetizing at all!  And then there's the supermarkets where we can buy just about any vegetable year round.  Progress?  Maybe, just maybe, if you're very lucky, a friend will deliver an extra scrumptious zucchini muffin to you in the morning as a special treat...could happen.

Anyway...I found this funny video on You Tube about making zucchini pancakes.  I never heard of her before but this girl is pretty funny - in an odd and quirky way.  Visit her site http://hilahcooking.com/ for super fun cooking videos!